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Money counters provide consistency for police departments

Automated money counters are the right kind of tool for police departments that constantly deal with unpredictable funding sources.

After the Great Recession forced many local governments around the U.S. to slash budgets for civic services like police, fire and public transportation, many cities are finally starting to rebound. For example, The News Tribune, a newspaper published in Tacoma, Washington, reported on the town's recent ability to dedicate more resources to its previously underfunded police team. According to the article, Tacoma granted the department nearly $40 million to spend on wages in 2015, which was substantially more than the organization had available in the years immediately following the economic downturn.

But that doesn't mean the local government is still out of the dark. In fact, Tacoma still has $6.7 million in debt, which means the police department is likely competing with other civic entities in the area to access limited resources.

Bigger cities are also looking for opportunities to expand their resource pool to adapt to changing trends in police work. The Los Angeles Times revealed that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department faces a unique need to better equip its staff with the skills and know-how to serve the city's large mentally ill population.

"When you receive as many calls as we do about people affected by mental illness, you have to train people to deal with them, or you have outcomes unfair to the mentally ill," Louis Dekmar, who serves both as a police chief in LaGrange, Georgia and as a vice president at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, told the newspaper.

Cash counters free up resources for overworked staff

Police departments in the U.S. don't always have to rely exclusively on their local government bodies to access the kind of resources they need. In many cases, finding ways to optimize efficiency among existing processes uncovers opportunities to do more with less.

Money counters offer a prime example. Police officers often spend a significant amount of time counting and scanning the large sums of money they uncover in drug busts and other arrests for evidence purposes. It's a task that is prone to human error and mental fatigue when done manually.

Replacing that process with a more automated system does wonders for law enforcement officials. Not only does it eliminate costly mistakes, but it also gives officers more time in the day to focus on other important responsibilities necessary for keeping their communities safe.